


The Art of Letter-Writing

by melodycanta



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Event AU, I know nothing about this event, Love Letters, M/M, Onmyouji - Freeform, Or the previous one, Philosophy, Scholar, The Art of Reading Event, Thirsty Tokiya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 10:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16366166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodycanta/pseuds/melodycanta
Summary: Tokiya has problems expressing himself out loud, so he writes a letter to express his love.  Unfortunately, ink needs to dry, and they're not always seen by their intended recipient first.Based VERY loosely off of The Art of Reading/Onmyouji events in SL (or, you know, not really at all).





	The Art of Letter-Writing

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Otomin!!!!
> 
> This was based off of a tweet about Tokiya writing a love letter in his card on SL, and I was out of ideas. I literally have no idea what the Art of Reading event ended up being about, and I can't actually see the card still with my recovering eyesight, but . . . They literally could have changed the names during the event and I would have no clue . . . so if they changed the names, my apologies. c:
> 
> Ren got to be in it because it was supposed to be Syo until I realized Syo's card had him as a shikigami . . . 
> 
> Hopefully this turned out okay!

_“It is said that the ancient Greeks believed that soulmates were originally part of the same person, with the same heart beating for both bodies. Is it any wonder, then, that my heart feels lonely when it is away from yours? It simply yearns to be whole after being reminded that it is half of what it used to be. It wants to be reunited with its other half, to feel the beat in unison once more.”_

Tokiya pauses to dip his brush in the ink once more, brushing the excess off on the side of the inkwell (and imagining his master’s displeasure when he sees it) and taking a deep breath to center himself. Love letters are not really his forte, but speaking his feelings is even less so, so he’s decided to take on the lesser of the two evils. The books he reads makes it seem so easy; the release of feelings seems almost cathartic to the characters. But for some reason, it is harder for him. Perhaps because he is not comfortable with expressing himself to begin with.

His lover was the first one to make him realize that he needs to express his feelings out loud, so he _is_ woefully out of practice.

He puts the brush to the paper again, cursing as a single drop of ink hits the corner of the page, and wills the words to come out.

_“Perhaps Aristotle said it best: love consists of one soul within two bodies. That may explain why I desire for your touch in the simplest of ways—whether it’s the gentle touch of your hand or the warmth of your body—my soul recognizes its second home lying within yo—”_

His brush skitters across the page is surprise as he hears the shoji door slide open. For a moment, his heart stutters in his chest as he thinks Camus may have returned early (and he does not want to be caught writing a love letter, because his master has no tolerance for something so frivolous). There’s a moment of hesitation though before a red head sticks its way into the room. “Hehe, sorry. I forgot to knock again.”

Tokiya musters up a glare as his heart races even faster. It’s honestly ridiculous what that smile can do to him, but the little self-conscious chuckle never fails to get make him flustered. “You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days,” he grumbles.

Otoya’s smile doesn’t dim. “I’ll just ask the spirits to revive you,” he says mischievously. 

Tokiya’s not entirely sure he’s that confident in the onmyouji in training, although he does have a way with miracles, so it wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something no one thought he could do. Still, he’s not a master by any means, and Tokiya would rather it didn’t come to that. “I assume you intruded for a reason,” he says, not trying to be rude, but knowing that Camus is due home any minute now and he still hasn’t finished this letter.

“The kids at the shrine are here, and we need a referee!” Otoya claps his hands together as if praying. “Please, Tokiyaaaaaaaaa?”

He absolutely does not have time for that, but as he opens his mouth, his heart overrides his head. Otoya is staring at him with those wide red eyes and the little half-smile he has reserved for moments where he’s not sure he’s going to get what he’s asking for hovering on his lips. “Just for a little bit,” Tokiya says. His reward is a beaming smile. 

“Thank you! I’ll go get the ball!” Otoya races off, and Tokiya sighs at his own resolve. He used to be so disciplined . . . 

And now he’s definitely not, at least not when it comes to a certain redheaded onmyouji-in-training.

He caps the inkwell and leaves his paper out to dry, even if it does feel exposed, just laying out in the open. He’d rather not have to write it all again, and he did tell Otoya only a little while, meaning that he should be able to excuse himself before it gets too late.

The little voice in his head reminds him that he’s probably not going to excuse himself, but he ignores it, gathers up his robes, and goes to the courtyard.

Ren and four children are waiting there, and his fellow shrine worker gives a wave as he approaches. “I didn’t think Ikki was going to be able to pull you away from your work,” he says in greeting.

“I was at a stopping point,” Tokiya lies before turning to the children. “How are your studies going? Are you almost ready to get a new book from Master Camus?” he asks them. 

There is a lot of muttering and averted gazes, so Tokiya takes that as a no. They’re saved from a lecture by Otoya though, who has entered with a soccer ball. “All right! Are we ready to play?” he asks with a giant grin.

Being a referee is mostly boring for these games—the addition of Ren and Otoya keeps the children honest—but it’s a good excuse to stare at Otoya under the guise of watching them play. Their relationship is a secret, and has to stay a secret, at least through Otoya’s training. Camus would probably disapprove too, so Tokiya is in no rush to share it either. For now, they’re fine with just each other.

Otoya’s peeled his kariginu down to his waist, revealing bronzed, toned abs and just the tiny hint of hip, which would feel indecent if he weren’t wholly engrossed in the soccer game. Tokiya can see the lines of muscle that lead down below the hangiri, and heat involuntarily rises to his face as he thinks about how he’s traced those lines before, both with his fingers and with his lips, turning Otoya’s panting into mewling. It’s not the time to think about such things, but now that he’s thought about it, the thoughts won’t go away. He thinks about the flush that rises to the redhead’s cheeks and the ardor in which he kisses, and the soft, _soft_ way he murmurs “I love you” as he threads their fingers together.

“I had thought I might find you here,” a voice comes from behind him, and his eyes snaps open as he whips around to find Camus standing there, a paper in his hands and a disapproving look on his face.

“M—Master!” It feels a bit like getting his hand caught in the candy jar, even if he’s not actually doing anything wrong. “I finished that report you asked for, and balanced the treasury while you were gone and—”

Camus holds up a hand to cut him off. “I saw. You’ve completed your work. I had just expected to find you reading rather than out here. Are you out of books already?”

Tokiya shakes his head. “They asked if I had time to referee.”

“I see.”

“Master Camus!” Otoya calls out, and Tokiya looks over to see that the game has paused (possibly stopped, because the children seem to be trying to escape without anyone noticing, given the sudden appearance of their teacher). “Welcome back!”

“Thank you, Ittoki. There is a letter for you.”

Camus often picks up the post while he’s in town, and although Tokiya has only ever seen Otoya receive mail once, he doesn’t pay much attention to it as it’s handed over. Ren pouts. “Nothing for me?”

“That would require you to make friends outside of the shrine, Jinguji.”

Tokiya can’t hide his snort.

Ren turns away, obviously with no retort, but he pauses instead of stalking back to the soccer ball. “Oi, Ikki. You okay?”

Otoya’s face is bright red as he reads over whatever letter he’s gotten. It’s really bizarre, until Tokiya recognizes the familiar ink blotch on the top right corner, and he remembers dripping on the side of the love letter he was writing and . . .

He hadn’t even written Otoya’s name on it, so how had Camus known?! 

The heat rises to his face as he watches Otoya take in the words on the page. He can’t protest now without arousing suspicion, but he knows that Otoya will recognize his handwriting, and god, this is so embarrassing. If he were going to give it to the object of his affections, he’d wait until he wasn’t around to watch. 

He wishes the ground would just swallow him up.

“Um . . . T—Tokiya,” Otoya stutters after a moment. “You have a dictionary in your room, don’t you?”

The question is unexpected enough to catch him off guard. “Yeah,” he says through a very dry mouth. Otoya isn’t meeting his eyes.

“I’d like to look up one of the characters in this letter. I don’t recognize it.”

Tokiya glances over to Camus, who nods his permission. “Come on,” he says, racking his brain to try to figure out what kanji it might be. He had thought all of them would be common enough, but perhaps he had been thinking as a scholar . . .

Otoya is quiet as Tokiya leads him to his room, trying to remember where the dictionary is after his most recent late-night reading session. He’s proud of Otoya for wanting to look up the words he doesn’t know, even if it’s in the most mortifying letter it could be in. ‘Think as the scholar,’ he wills himself.

And then he feels Otoya’s arms wind around his waist. His bare skin feels so warm through Tokiya’s robes, and the scent of sweat and incense floods his senses. “I liked your letter,” he says, punctuating the statement with a kiss to the side of Tokiya’s neck.

Any coherent thought immediately flees Tokiya’s mind.

“You didn’t finish it though.” Otoya’s lips are curved into a smile as they rest against the skin just under Tokiya’s ear. “Will you write me another one?”

“Would you like another one?” he eventually manages to ask.

“Of course!” One hand drops from Tokiya’s waist, only to capture his fingers. Otoya raises them, and then shifts over so that he can press a kiss to the knuckles. Tokiya’s heart gives a little flutter in the middle of its already erratic beating. “Tell me more about how we share one heart between two bodies.”

“One _soul_ between two bodies,” he instinctively corrects as Otoya misquotes Aristotle.

Otoya hums as he continues his path down Tokiya’s hand, kissing the back to his wrist, and then down his arm. Something in the back of Tokiya’s mind dimly reminds him that Camus and Ren are expecting them back in the courtyard at some point, but even that thought is dismissed before it’s fully formed. He shakes off Otoya’s advances to reach back and guide their mouths together. 

“I wouldn’t mind being one body with you again,” Otoya whispers when they part, and it’s almost embarrassing how arousing it is to have Otoya talk philosophy to him like this, “almost” being the key word there. Instead, he ignores it and hopes his kiss is enough to count as his agreement.


End file.
